This invention relates generally to color display systems, and more particularly to color-selective graphic display terminals.
Many currently available display terminals require users to have a thorough understanding of color theory and how colors combine, and to enter substantial amounts of data before a desired color may be displayed. For example, one such terminal is the Megatek 1650 graphic terminal manufactured by Megatek Corporation of San Diego, Cal., U.S.A. To specify a color index and selected color coordinates (i.e., selected amounts of red, green, and blue base colors from which a resultant color or index is to be formed), such terminals often require the entry of four data values to specify the color index, followed by the entry of three more data values to specify the color coordinates; and even when the user satisfies these requirements, the specified color is often not displayed when its index is different from that of a previous image. To avoid this problem, the user often has to enter a display command; and, to do this, he is required to specify a color polygon, then build the polygon, coordinate by coordinate, superimposing the selected (desired resultant) color on the polygon--a multistep, often laborious process.
What is needed and would be useful, therefore, is a color selection and display apparatus which simplifies the process of color selection/specification.